Iowa State men’s golf is preparing to return to play in the Spartan Collegiate at Sea Island, Georgia, Monday through Tuesday after a two-week break.

The tournament opens with two rounds being played on Monday, followed by one round on Tuesday.

The Cyclones finished 17th out of 24 teams at their last event, The Prestige on Feb. 17 in La Quinta, Califorina. 

Leading the team was Lachlan Barker, finishing in a tie for ninth. Barker finished with a 3-round score of 213 (67-75-71).

Head Coach Andrew Tank says he likes the growth that he has seen from the team this spring and has seen the group give more input than before.

“I think everybody across the board has had more of a voice this spring and they are not sitting back and waiting for just the older guys to have input,” Tank said.

Tank also had high praise for the team’s work ethic. He mentioned the guys are all committed to doing the right thing and have been putting in the time and effort to produce the expected results. 

Tank discussed the fact that the Cyclones will be mainly competing against teams that they haven’t competed against this year, mainly the Big Ten. Of the 16 teams in the field, seven are from the Big 10 Conference.

Other than Northwestern, Iowa State has not faced a Big Ten team in its entire 2020-21 spring and fall season.

The overall field includes: Iowa State, Iowa, Michigan State, Rutgers, Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio State, Northwestern, Eastern Michigan, Georgia Southern, Miami, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Memphis, and Bowling Green.

The Spartan Collegiate is played at Plantation Golf Course. This is the site of the PGA Tour event, the RSM Classic.

This event will mark the first of three events in March for Iowa State.